Every museums video worth watching in Tokyo — in one place

Tokyo’s museum offer splits into two distinct registers: the world-class collections (Tokyo National Museum in Ueno, which holds the National Treasures of most of Japan, and the National Museum of Western Art — a Le Corbusier building and UNESCO World Heritage Site in its own right) and the spectacle experiences (teamLab Planets in Toyosu, where you wade through a glowing koi pond barefoot in a digital art installation that costs around $28 USD per person). Both categories are worth including in a Tokyo itinerary, but they serve different purposes. The Tokyo National Museum is where the depth of Japanese cultural history is most accessible in a single building; one creator recommends using the Tourist Center coupon card for a 120-yen discount on the 600-yen ticket. The Cup Noodle Museum, where you can build your own custom instant noodle flavour, is the most reliable crowd-pleaser for visitors who want an interactive museum experience at a low cost.

The “Tokyo Museums: 8 Best Underrated and Unusual Museums in Tokyo and Around Japan” video is the most distinctive in the set — it goes beyond the Tokyo National Museum and teamLab to cover the Edo-Tokyo Museum, the lesser-known design and craft collections, and some of the more unusual concept museums the city has produced. The “Tokyo Travel Guide: The Best Things to Do in Tokyo” video covers the teamLab Planets experience most practically — queue times, what to wear (you’re wading through shallow water), how to book — making it the right companion for planning the digital art visit. Together these two represent the traditional collection and the spectacle experience dimensions of Tokyo museum-going.